Sanskritization: upward social mobility; dress like Brahmins, become vegetarian, move to urban areas

Social Class in the United States

Material basis of class: yacht, big house, fancy car

Social classes as subcultures: determined by income

Privileged class (CEO's) = 1%

Upper middle class (professionals) = 14%

Middle class (teachers) = 30%

Working class (factory wrkrs) = 30%

Working poor (service jobs) = 13%

Under class (unemployed) = 12%

Explaining social stratification

The Functionalist Interpretation: soc. strat. exists b/c it contributes to the overall well-being of a society (teachers do a more important job than singers but are paid less)

The Conflict Theory Interpretation: soc. strat. results from the constant struggle for scarce goods and sevices btwn the bourgeoisie(those who own the means of production) and the proletariat(the wrking class who exchange their labor for wages); by Karl marx; greed? (gov't may need to close gap btwn the haves and the have nots)

Racism

The belief that some races are superior to others.

Race: no biological differences btwn races; race is not scientific

IQ: intelligence as a mix of different faculties IQ test as culturally coded test; 1950's, Asian Americans scored the highest and African Americans scored the lowest

Social Darwinism: Spencer; survival of the fittest

Ethnicity

Objective Aspect: the observable culture and shared symbols of a particular group (ex: head scarf; flag; language; food; clothing)

Subjective Aspect: the internal beliefs of the people regarding their shared ancestry (ex: share a history; have an emotional attachment)

Multiculturalism: language and culture classes allow for more understanding

Differences of various political organizations

Uncentralized Political Organization

Band: a small group of people related by blood or marriage, who live together and are loosely associated with a territory in which they forage (use persuasion/negotiation; no institutionalized law; 30-50 ppl; food sharing; group more important than individual; informal)

Tribe: a range of kin-ordered groups that are politically integrated by some unifying factor and whose members share a common ancestry, identity, culture, and territory (no central gov't; informal; pan-tribal mechanism- bring ppl together)

Centralized Political Organizations

Chiefdom: a society with social ranking in which political integration is achieved through an office of centralized leadership called the Chief (mostly passed from father to son; rank society(social honor); pre-colonial Hawaii)

State: a hierarchical, centralized from of political organization in which a central gov't has a legal monopoly over the use of force (5,000-6,000 years ago)

Age Orginization: ppl of roughly the same age (age set) pass through different levels of society (age grade) together. Each ascending level, based on age, carries with it increased social status and rigidly defined roles

Courts and Codified Legal System

Legitimate use of physical coercion: an effective deterrant

Allocation of official authority to privileged people: use law in a legitimate way

Oaths vs. Ordeals

Oaths: the practice of having God bear witness to the truth of what a person says (formal); fear supernatural retribution

Social Problems: internal-> frustrations of other group (outside groups)

Perceived Threats: ex) war on terror, Korean War

Political Motivations: ex) Spanish-American War; to further politically

Moral Objectives: war on terror, Civil War

Other formal means of social control

Intermediaries: the murderer will hide in the home of the Leopard-skin Chief in the Nuer to stay safe; Chief can negotiate with both parties involved but doesn't actually have any power over the outcome or decision; act as mediator

Moots: informal hearings of disputes for the purpose of resolving conflict; ex) Kpelle, informal hearing in complaintees house- fault to both parties=minimal punishment; found in African societies; mostly domestic affairs

Violence and Warfare: Chagnon's explanation= lack of women (polygamy; practice of female infantcide); most violent culture; frequent fights over women; Harris believes they fight due to a lack of protein; Ferguson believes they fight from a desire to get metal tools from Europeans

Function of Art

Emotional gratification: provide pleasure and happiness

Social Integration: bring people together

Social Control: media resources- right and wrong, criminal justice system intertwined

Preserving or Chanllenging the status quo: wealthy accumulate one of a kind art

Visual Arts

Graphic Arts: forms of art that include painting and drawing on various surfaces

Legend: a story about a memorable event or figure handed down by tradition and told as true but without historical evidence (Washington chopping down cherry tree)

Folk tales: stories from the past that are instructive, entertaining, and largely secular in nature (mundane life)

Performing Arts

Music: ethnomusicology (what music means in a culture)

Dance: Intentional, rhythmic nonverbal body movements that are culturally patterned and have aesthetic value (capoeira-dance/acrobatics/martial arts developed by African slaves in Brazil)

Theatre: A type of enactment that seeks to entertain through conscious forms of acting, movement, and words related to dance, music, parades, competitive games and sports, and verbal art (Kathali from India; wear delicate clothes and makeup to expand characters)

Religion vs. Worldview

Religion: a set of beliefs in supernatural beings and forces directed at helping people make sense of the world and solve important problems (not everyone has a religion; more related to supernatural)

Worldview: the collective body of ideas that members of a culture generally share concerning the ultimate shape and substance of their reality (everyone has this; main views to explain the world)

Development of Religion

Tylor's Evolutionary model of religion

Animism: belief that people have souls or spirits in addition to physical, visible bodies (original form)

Polytheism: the belief in the existance of many Gods (souls take on power)

Monotheism: the belief in only one God (only 1 deity became the most powerful) ex) Christianity, Muslim

Magic

Magic: a system of supernatural beliefs that involves the manipulation of supernatural forces for the purpose of intervening in a wide range of human activities and natural events; control supernatural forces

Wallace

Imitative magic: the belief that imitating an action in a religious ritual will cause the action to happen in the material world (make real actions) (voodoo doll)

Contagious magic: the belief that things once in contact with a person or object retain an invisible connection with that person or object (gather personal belongings; ex) autograph)

Witchcraft: an inborn involuntary and often unconscious capacity to cause harm to other people; ex) Azande- bring harm, causes rich and deviants have a higher chance to be called a witch; anything bad is witchcraft; bring down gap between the rich and poor

Sorcery: the performance of certain magical rites for the intentional purpose of harming other people; use of potions and medicines

Individualistic Cults: the least complex form of religous org. in which each person is his/her own religious specialists (do-it-yourself religion); vision quest- a ritual found among a # of Plains Indians cultures where in through visions ppl establish special relationships with spirits who provide them with knowledge, pwr, and protection; Religion among Ojibwa- focus on the relationship w/ "the grandfathers" (other than human beings, wisest, share power); Dreaming, fasting, and visions- they fast to make the visions quest stronger

Shamanistic: forms of religion in whoch part-time religious specialists called Shamans intervene with the deities on behalf of their clients; Shamans- part-time religious specialists who are thought to have supernatural power by virtue of birth, training, or inspiration (go into altered state of unconsciousness and travel to spirit world); Shamanistic Curing- the Grand Medicine Society Among the Ojibwa (a # of men and women to cure with plant or Earth); Tungus shamans as medical diagnosticians (enter spirit world to diagnose, not provide a cure)

Communal Cults: societies in which groups of ordinary people conduct religious ceremonies for the well-being of the total community; Rites of Passage- 3 phases = seperation (cut off from previous status), transition (circumcision), incorporation (people from entire community participate) (ex) funerals, weddings); Rites of Solidarity- ancestor worship (blessed with prosperity)

Ecclesiastical Cults: highly complex religious systems employing full-time priests; Priest- one who is formerly elected, appointed, or hired to a full-time religious office; Religion among the Aztecs- Aztec Gods; very stratified(chinampas= floating garden; ag. process caused them to grow); Priesthood as hierarchy (all kinds of priest serve all kinds of Gods; 1. creation 2. elements 3. warfare); human sacrifice and cannibalism (human blood-> sun diety to stay alive; body made into soup-> victims become divine as well as consumers); cannibalism due to lack of protein or population control